An intermodal analysis of major seaports in Southern China

Competitiveness of seaports is greatly dependent on the supply (export) and demand (import) of their hinterlands. To a large extend, given a comparable level of operating efficiency, the captured hinterland is typically determined by the cost of inland transport. This paper presents an intermodal network model to examine the competitiveness of Yangtze River Delta port cluster and Pearl River Delta port cluster. The study is conducted by quantifying port connectivity, in terms of cost, between several hinterlands to a representative port from each cluster, namely Ningbo port and Guangzhou port. It is assumed that market is under perfect competition and thus the choice of ports will gravitate towards those with the minimum transportation expenditure and shortest turn-around time. In particular, various alternative routings for cargo movements through inter-modal network of rail, truck, air and inland waterway transports, from the ports to seven destinations representing their respective hinterlands are examined. Sensitivity analysis in terms of the intermodal network capacity has also been conducted to generate optimal transport routings.